Chasing Summer –

March 21-24

Belen is our last port in Brazil. This is not a typical cruise stop, tourists come here if they are venturing into or leaving the Amazon. It is called the gateway to the Amazon.

Even where the Odyssey is anchored, you can see the estuary or mouth of the Amazon River and its brown waters mixing into the sea’s salty water. We stopped here for 4 days, allowing residents to venture into the Amazon if they so desired.

Several residents flew to Manus to jump on a river cruise down the Amazon. For those of us who chose not to, several zoological or botanical gardens in Belem are preserved sections of the Amazon Rainforest. In these parks, there are flora and fauna from the region.

Since we were going to be here for 4 days and using tenders to reach shore, Steve, Angela, and I decided to spend two nights in a hotel in town. This way, we did not need to worry about the tender rides, and there didn’t seem to be that much to do in Belem anyway.

We chose a hotel that was about one kilometer away from our pier but had a pool, spa, and breakfast included. One thing about hotel prices here is that they are fairly reasonable. The hotel was also across the street from the Theatro da Paz and the Praca da Republica.

We arrived in Belem in the afternoon and were cleared to go aboard by 3:30 PM. We hopped on the first tender and went ashore in the rain. The tenders used were local, so everything went very smoothly, and they got us to shore quickly.

Since it was still raining and didn’t seem to want to stop, we took an Uber to the hotel so that our bags wouldn’t get wet. Once we checked in, we went downstairs to check out the salon. Pedicures for only 10 reals, so we all signed up for one at 5:00 PM.

After our pedicures, the rain had almost stopped, so we went for a walk down the street. We had heard that this wasn’t the safest area after dark, so we didn’t want to go far. It looked like all of the stores were closing at 6 anyway. We ended up back at our hotel having pizza for dinner. It wasn’t that great, but you know it is only $6.50.

On Saturday morning, we had a carb-heavy buffet breakfast with delicious coconut bread, cheese bread, and some cheese and fruit. The teacups were quite small, so I ended up taking two at a time.

The evening before, we had arranged teeth cleaning at a nearby clinic, and by nearby, I mean two buildings over. So we brushed our teeth and headed to the clinic. No one spoke any English at the clinic, and we don’t speak Portuguese, so Google Translate was a God send.

After getting our teeth cleaned for $27, we headed across the street to the park. Here, there were several interesting buildings. One is the theatre, and the other two are experimental theatres. In the center of the park was a statue and several gazebos.

It was amazingly hot and humid, and I would have been happy jumping into the pool, but Angela and Steve really wanted to go to a nearby mall, so off we went. As we walked, we passed by a church and another square.

The Patio Mall that we chose to go to is considered a basic cheap mall, and I have to agree most of the stores had affordable prices. This mall also had a cinema and a food court. This is where we got lunch, but it wasn’t as cheap as it should have been. We decided to go for Asian and it was a self-serve and you pay by the weight. They always give you huge plates, and I put way too much on it.

When we were finished, we wanted to go to a large grocery store nearby but we could see from what you call the skylight that it was pouring rain. We waited a little while and then decided to make our way to the grocery store a block away.

After running around the store looking for goodies, it was pouring again, so we were back to the hotel for less than $2. At the hotel, we went to put our purchases away, and Steve and Angela went for an ice cream. I was stuffed from my large lunch and decided instead to see what the pool was like since the rain had stopped.

On Sunday, a market had sprung up along the perk and theatre. After breakfast and another quick swim, I went up to pack and check out. Since it was sunny and not raining, we walked through the market and down to the pier where we were going to catch the tender back to the boat.

Now, one thing I might have forgotten to mention is that there was a microbrewery in the pier area that we had passed when we arrived. The plan was to go back to the boat for lunch and then come back across to try out the brewery.

The brewery was called Amazon Beer Belem. They had seven choices of locally crafted beer. The Amazon Forest, Amazon River, Amazon Red Ale, Imperial IPA, Belem draft beer, Forest Bakura, and Father of Water Tap.

I chose to try three of their beers. The first one I tried was the Amazon Red Ale. Typically, I love darker beers, and they did not have a stout available at this time. The description said herbal fruity caramelized notes, and it won a bronze medal at the Brazilian beer competition, but I didn’t really like it. At 6% alcohol and 13. 90 real it was one of the more pricey ones they had for 300 milliliters.

The second beer I tried was called Amazon Forest. This one won a gold medal at the International Bureau Challenge in London. It was only a 3.8% alcohol and only 899 rails. It turned out to be one of my favorite beers.

The third beer that I tried was Forest Bakura. Bakura is a fruit found in the Amazon. This beer won a gold medal at the Brazilian Beer Competition and a bronze at the International Beer Challenge with an alcohol content of 3.8, but a price of 13.99 real. This beer was also tasty.

Sadly for me, the brewery was not going to open again the next day until 5 and we were leaving at four otherwise I definitely would have tried the Father of Water Tap which is going to be an Amazon APA, and the Amazon River which was a lager beer.

On our fourth and last day in Brazil, I walked with Steve, Angela, and Scott through the market right outside the port.

We headed down towards the fish market and the small harbour where the fishing boats were tied up and the vultures were circling around.

After some bad smells and decaying buildings, Scott scratched his arm on a nail, and we needed to find a pharmacy. Like a lot of Brazil, the buildings show a faded glory, and the parks have been taken over by homeless people.

The small harbor had a lot of trash washed up, and several bushes were being used as a drying rack for hastily washed garments. I feel bad that the communities have such an economic problem, and homelessness and crime run rampant.

Past the fishing boats are the cathedral and an old fort from 1616.

The cathedral is stunning inside, with a large park in front of it with many colorful orange bushes.

The interior of the fort was closed on Mondays, but we were able to walk around outside the walls.

From here, the others caught an Uber to another mall while I opted to go back into the market and pedestrian streets, making my way back to the port.